Gas-analysis apparatus.



S. D. MERTON. GAS ANALYSIS APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 0018,1909.

Patented Mar. 29, 1910.

- for trapping oti 7 absorbing medium SETH I). MEBTUN, OF ST. LOUIS,MISSGUBI.

eats-summers specimens.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Near. 523? ftfi lltlapplication filed october 8, 1503. SerialNo. 521,733;

To all whom "it may concern:

' Be it known that I, SETH D. MERTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Gas-Analysis Apparatus, of which the, following is afull, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it a' pertains to make and use the same.

T IS invention relates to a device for gas analysis, such as is used,for example, for determining the percentage of carbon dioxid (($0 in theproducts of combustion in kilns, furnaces, gas producers, etc.

Briefly described, the device herein shown consists of a movablereceptacle that contains an absorbing medium, means for trapping asample of gas of known volume and forcing it into said receptacle sothat the therein will extract one of the constituents of the gas andthus cause the receptacle to change its position, the percentage of theconstituent that has been absorbed being recorded or indicated bysuitable mechanism controlled by the movement of the receptacle.

The apparatus herein shown for trapping oil" the sample of gas andforcing it into the receptacle which contains the absorbing medium iswell-known and is used in the 'Sarco automatic (0 recorder, but anyother suitable apparatus could be usedfor this purpose and therefore Ido not wish it to be understood that my broad idea is limited to anyparticular means :or apparatus the sample of and forcing it into thereceptacle which contains the absorbing medium.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical sectional View of a deviceembodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is a detail, vertical sectional Viewtaken on approximately the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, A designates a receptacle that is adapted to contain anabsorbing medium 1, such, for example, as a solution ofca-ustic potash,and 2- designa-tes astationary support on which saidreceptacle isfulcrumed or, pivotally mounted. In the construction herein shown astrap 3 on the upper side of the receptacle A passes over the support 2so as to sustain the receptacle in position but it -will be obvious thatvarious other means could be employed for sustaining the receptacle insuch a position that it will tilt or swing under certain conditions. Thereceptacle A preferably has acomparativcly large central portion and tworeduced end portions t and 5 which curve upwardly from said body portionand thus produce a receptacle which is substantially Ushaped '1 he longneck or reduced portion fl at one end or" the receptacle is open to theatmosphere, and the neckor-red-nced portion 5 at the opposite end of thereceptacle merges into a hollow elliptical-shaped portion 6 which is ofsuilicient size to hold quite a quantity of the absorbing solution. Aflexible conduit communicates with the enlarged portion: 6 on the neck 5of the receptacle A so as to introduce the sample of gas into said receptacle and thus cause the receptacle to shift or move from its normalposition, as hereinafter more clearly described.

In view of the fact that the apparatus for trapping off the sample ofgas and toreing: it Into the receptacle A is well-known I will notdescribe the specific details 05 construction of said apparatus but willmerely describe it in general terms so that the operation of same can beunderstood. Said apparatus comprises a gas-inlet pipe 8 that leads fromthe line or combustion chamber of a. furnace or other source of gassupply, not shown, a burette formed by an approximately oblong-shapedtube 9 that communicates with said inlet pipe, a water aspirator l0, anda pipe 11 leading fromsaid aspirator to the burette or tube 9. A oy-passor liquid seal B is arranged between the inlet pipe 8 and the pipe 11 sothat the main stream of gas can pass directly from said inlet pipe tothe aspirate]: afterthe sample of gas has been trap ed ofi in theburette, as hereinafter descri ed. A pipe 12 leads from the aspiratorinto a box 13 so as to supply water thereto, and said box is providedwith a discharge nozzle 14 which permit-s the water to escape into apipe 15 that leads to a tank G having an upper coinpartment 16 forreceiving the water from the pipe 15, and a lower compartment 17 whichcontains a solution of water and glycerin or some other similarsubstance, said lower compartment being connected with the burette 9 bymeans of a pipe 17. A siphon pipe 18 leads from the upper coinpartmentof the tank C, and at a certain period of the cycle of operations of theapparatus the water in the upper compartment is sucked up through thesiphon pipe 18 and down through the pipe 18 which communicates with theupper end of the siphon pipe. An air pipe 19 leads from the lowercompartment of the tank G into the upper compartment of said tank, asshown in Fig. 2, so as to permit the air in said upper compartment topass downwardly into the lower compartment and exert pressure on theglycerin solution in said lower compartment, said air pressure causingthe glycerin solution in, the lower end of the burette 9 to rise farenough to cut oil the in ess and egress of gas from the burette. T eapparatus also comprises a flexible air chamber 20 which communicateswith the pipe 21' that enters the burette 9 so as to maintainatmospheric pressure inside of said burette. I have herein illustratedthe gas-trapping apparatuson a much smaller scale than the receptacle Awhich contains the absorbing medium, and consequently the relativepositions of said apparatus and rece tacleA are different from what theywould e in actual practice. It will be understood, of course, that in acommercial device the apparatus for trapping ofi the sample of gas andforcing it into the receptacle A will be so proportioned that it Wlllperform the function for which it is designed.

When the recorder is first set in operation the gas will be drawnthrough the pipe 8, burette 9 and pipe 11 by the aspiratcr, and thewater that escapes from the aspirator will gradually fill the uppercompartment 16 of the tank C and thus compress the air in saidcompartment, the pressure of said air causing the lycerin solution torise in the burette 9. Vhen said solution rises far enough toclose thepipes 8 and 11 the ingress and egress of as to and from the burette willbe out o and the gas in the upfper portion of the burctte will be traped 0 so that it can be utilized as a samp e to be tested. As theglycerin solution continues to rise in the burette the sample of thereinwill be forced through the con duit 7 into the receptacle, the pressureof the gas in said conduit causing it to tend to straighten-out and thusrock the receptacle A upwardly or in the direction indicated by thearrow in Fig. 1. The gas which entors the receptacle A also tends torock the receptacle owing to the fact that the pressure which said gasexerts on the absorbing solution causes said solution to rise in theneck 4 of the receptacle A. The solution 1 in rthc receptacle A absorbsthe CO in the gas and consequently reduces the volume of the sample sothat the movement of the receptacle will vary in accordance with thepecentage off-CO in the gas. If the sample contains no CO the receptacleA will crease 11love the maximum distance, and it the sample contains1.0% of UU the receptacle Wlll 'movc less than the maxinmm distance.

The particular means used for indicating or recording the percentage ofCO in the gas 79 is immaterial so far as my broad idea is concerned asany suitable means could be used for this purpose. l have herein shown are cording device for indicating the pcreel'itage of CO in the gas butit will, of course, be

obvious that a visual indicating device could be used if desired. Therecording device herein shown consists of. a pen 22 connected by aflexible device 23 to the long neck l of the receptacle A and adapted tomake a mark or impression on a chart 24 which is driven cpntinuously bysome suitable mechanical means.

The receptacle A can be provided with an adjustable weight 25 so as toretain said re- 25 ceptacle in a certain normal position, and ifdesired, adashpot 1) can. be arranged be tween the receptacle and astationary suport so as to prevent the receptacle from vioratin I referto arran e the rece tacle A and the tra )ping apparatus inside of a caseor cabinet .l so to protect said parts.

When the water in the upper compartment-lti of the tank C and in pipes15 and 18 reaches a certain level a siphon will be created in the pipes18 and 18 and thus cause the water to be sucked out of said uppercompartment, thereby reducing the pressure of air in the lowercompartment 17 and permitting to drop back to its normal level,completing the cycle of one analysis and restoring the conditions forthebeginning of a new cycle.

My device for analysis, and for au'toniatically drawing and measuringthe gas sample to be analyzed for any given element, and forautomatically recording the result of such analysis, is mechanicallysimpler than most of those devices for a similar purelement in thedirectly alters the position of the absorbent vessel itself inproportion to the percentage of the gas a sorbed by the containedabsorb'ingmedium. This movement of the. absorbent vessel is directly andsimply recorded without the necessity of delicate mechanism between .theabsorbent vessel and the recording apparatus. In most successful devicesof this character, hitherto, the absorbent vessel has been motionless;it has been essentially a U tube; the

rise of absorbing liquid in the far leg of this e' liquid solution inthe burette 9 1w 'pose which-have hitherto come into extcm no sivcuse,'m that the absorption oi the given Havin thus described mvinvention what I claim as new and desire to securely Letters Patent is:

- l. A device for the purpose described, comprising a holloivmember thatis mounted in such a manner that it can rock, an ah- I sorbing medium insaid member, means for trapping off. a sample of gas of known volume andintroducing it into said hollow member, and means for recordmg thedegree oi movement 01' said member so as to determine' the percentage ofthe constituent that has been removed from the gas.

2. A device for the purpose described, co nprismg a hollow member thatis mounted in such a manner that it can rock, an ab sol-hing medium insaid member, means for trapping off a sample of gas of known volume andforcing t into contact with said absorbing medium, and means forregistering the degree f-movement of said hollow.

member.

3. In adevice of the characted described, a receptacle that is mountedin such iiaman ner that it can rock, said receptacle'being providedatone .end with a coi1tracted,po1'- tion which open. to the atmosphere,and at its opposite end with an enlar ed portion that is approximatelyfiat and "when", an

absorbing medium in vsaid receptacle, and

means for supplying gas to the hpllow flat portion at one end of saidreceptacle.

l A device of the character; described,

having means for drawing gas from' a" source of supply, means fortrapping 0a a sample of gas of known volume, a hollow member adapted toreceive said sample and being mounted in such a manner that it can rock,and a medium in said receptacle for absorbing one of the constituents ofsaid gas.

5. A device of the character described, comprising means for drawing gasfrom a sourceot' supply, means for trapping otl' a sample of gas ofknown volume, a hollow "member adapted to receive said sample and beingmounted in such a manner that it can rock, a medium in said receptaclefor ab sorbing one of the constituents of said gas,

and means for registering the degree of movement of said receptacle.

comprising means for drawing gas from a source of supply, means fortrapping oil -a 'sam le of se of-known volume an a proximately U-shapedmember for receiving said sample of gas and being mounted in such amanner that it can rock, said recepmately U-shaped member forreceivingsaid sample ofgas and being mounted in such a manner that itcan rock, said receptacle being open to the atmosphere, means in saidreceptacle for absorbing 'one of the constituents of said sample of gas,a recording mechanism, means operated by the move. ment oi saidreceptacle for actuating said recording mechanism,- and means forpreventing said receptacle from vibratmq. In testimony whereof lhereun'to affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses,

this sixth day of October 1909.

. SETH D. MERTON. Witnes mszfl 1 (Visits 'L. CHURCH,- Geono n'f BAKEWELII.

5O 6. A device for the purpose described, I

